Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 518 Emperor Longwu to Review Troops

"What is it that Mother Empress is so shocked about?"
If it weren't for my mother's intervention, how could I have returned from Nanjing, a place of honor and comfort, to Beijing, the center of power?

If it weren't for the unexplained death of Chengli King's only son, leaving him without an heir, why would the court officials have given up on him so easily?
Even Yu Qian, who supported Prince Chengli's ascension to the throne, eventually abandoned him!

After all, the late emperor only had two sons!

With Prince Chengli dying and without an heir, isn't the throne of the Ming Dynasty naturally returning to my hands?
Isn't all of this thanks to the Empress Dowager?

Why is the Empress Dowager so shocked now?
"I will always remember my mother's kindness to me!" Emperor Tianshun said to Empress Dowager Sun in a gentle tone with a cruel smile.

Although Emperor Tianshun only uttered a few simple words, the amount of information contained within them was so immense that Empress Dowager Sun almost staggered and fell over!

Finally, Empress Dowager Sun managed to regain her balance by stumbling against a pillar. But looking at Emperor Tianshun's cruel smile in the distance, Empress Dowager Sun was filled with remorse.

"Zhen'er, you've gone mad!" Looking at her son's crazed eyes, Empress Dowager Sun felt a sharp, agonizing pain in her heart! Besides the fact that her son, Emperor Tianshun, had become so irredeemable, Empress Dowager Sun felt even more remorse and regret for herself!

Empress Dowager Sun knew that because of this son to whom she had paid countless prices and devoted so much effort, she had once again done a series of outrageously wrong things! As a result, the bitter consequences were now beyond repair!
It might even drag the Ming Dynasty into an endless abyss!

"The great calamity of Jiazi! Jiazi." In a daze, the words that her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Zhang, murmured before her death kept echoing in Empress Dowager Sun's mind.

At this moment, Empress Dowager Sun finally understood: the real calamity of the Jiazi cycle was never the Tumu Crisis or the transfer of the throne! The real calamity of the Jiazi cycle, from the very beginning, was her beloved son! Emperor Tianshun, this once legitimate emperor, was the greatest calamity for the Ming Dynasty!

Her son was the root cause of the great calamity of the Ming Dynasty! He was the cause of the cholera outbreak in the Ming Dynasty!

"Even a pig could do a better job on the throne of the Ming Dynasty than your son." Looking at her son sitting on the dragon throne in the distance, Empress Dowager Sun recalled the humiliating and degrading words of Emperor Longwu from back then.

Empress Dowager Sun thought bitterly: Now it seems that what Emperor Longwu said back then was actually not wrong at all!

"It's all my fault." Empress Dowager Sun then staggered out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, muttering to herself, and headed towards the Imperial Ancestral Temple at the back of the palace.

At this moment, Empress Dowager Sun had not yet realized that Emperor Tianshun was not the root cause of all the turmoil in the Ming Dynasty! Even she, the Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty, was herself the root cause of all the suffering in the Ming Dynasty!
Meanwhile, after several days of sea and land travel, Princess Yuming, Yu Qian's wife, and her children finally arrived in the Dragon Kingdom!

After a day of rest, at the grand court assembly the next day, Emperor Longwu directly summoned his sister, whom he hadn't seen for decades, to the court! After a brief exchange of pleasantries in the court, an imperial edict symbolizing the highest directives of the Dragon Kingdom was issued from the vast Dragon Capital Imperial Palace.

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

The heir of the late Emperor of the Dragon Kingdom! The younger sister of Emperor Longwu! Her Highness Princess Yuming, originally betrothed to Yu Qian, a cabinet minister of the Ming Dynasty.
Currently, due to the political turmoil in the Ming Dynasty, Princess Yuming and her offspring are hereby welcomed back.
Princess Yuming is hereby granted the title of Queen Ans!

The island of Anse (Sri Lanka) was granted as its fief.

The eldest son of Queen Anse is granted the title of Crown Prince of Anse!

He was also granted official positions and guards within the Prince's Palace.
"So be it!" This imperial edict from Emperor Longwu directly recognized Zhu Yuming's status as the late emperor's illegitimate daughter in the name of the Dragon Kingdom court! Moreover, Emperor Longwu not only recognized her status but also gave this younger sister enormous compensation, granting her a fiefdom that was significantly larger than that of her other sisters! Not to mention everything else!

At the same time, Emperor Longwu's move was also a slap in the face to Emperor Shun of the Ming Dynasty! It was a blatant slap in the face to the Ming Dynasty!

As time went by, when this news spread to the Ming Dynasty by those with ulterior motives, the actions of Emperor Longwu and the ruthlessness of Emperor Tianshun formed a stark contrast!

In an instant, countless lower-class gentry, scholars from humble backgrounds, and even some officials and commoners who were disillusioned with the Ming Dynasty flocked to the Dragon Kingdom through the secret networks laid out by the Dragon Kingdom in the Ming Dynasty, traveling by sea and land! Empress Dowager Sun, dressed in plain clothes, with a full head of white hair, who knelt devoutly in the Imperial Ancestral Temple every day to repent, also kowtowed heavily on the prayer mat beneath her upon hearing this news.

In the instant the maidservant withdrew, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, one could see tears streaming down Empress Dowager Sun's pale hair—a stark contrast to the orderly memorial tablets in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!

At this moment, perhaps Empress Dowager Sun truly regretted it!

Let's shift our focus back to the Dragon Kingdom!

"Boss, issue the decree: I will personally review the army and navy in Dragon Capital Square of my Dragon Kingdom a year from now!"

Each military unit should select its elite personnel to participate in the review!

I want to show the world and all nations the most advanced weaponry and the most valiant warriors of my Dragon Kingdom!

"At the same time, let the cabinet spread this news far and wide!" On this day, Emperor Longwu was chatting leisurely with his wife in Kunning Palace when he suddenly saw his son coming to pay his respects. After thinking for a while, he said to his son.

"Father, what are you doing?" Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu was originally planning to pay his respects to his father and mother and then hurry up to continue working for his father as a free beast of burden! But Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu, who had just finished kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, was stunned by his father, Emperor Longwu's, sudden work assignment.

For a moment, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu did not understand what his father, Emperor Longwu, was planning to do, and asked his father with a blank look.

"Yu'er, the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting!"

The key is to subdue the enemy without fighting!

In recent years, your brothers have been successively enfeoffed in the directions of the Western Rong and Turks. Although those foreign tribes only made verbal requests, they did not dare to take any substantial action.

But as you know, you still have more than a dozen younger brothers to be enfeoffed!

Besides, your sons have grown up and are of age to be granted fiefdoms!

Your dad has to keep them in check, so they won't be targeted or bullied by some malicious people!

Moreover, our country's weapons and equipment have been upgraded several times in recent years. Those weapons and equipment that we have phased out are just taking up space in the warehouse!

"Instead of letting them grow fur and take up space, it's better to sell them to your brothers and those foreign tribes. That way, you, the regent, can earn some money to spend." Seeing his son somewhat bewildered by his sudden decision, Emperor Longwu glanced at his wife beside him and quickly explained to his son.

After hearing his father, Emperor Longwu's, words, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu realized what his father meant and immediately understood his intentions.

"Father, you don't just want to sell those old weapons, do you?"

Perhaps they also wanted to use this military display to intimidate and warn the usurper Emperor Tianshun of the Ming Dynasty!

"Father even wants to use this method to squeeze money out of his brothers and the foreign tribes so that his brothers can continue to expand outwards." After hearing his father, Emperor Longwu's, explanation, Crown Prince Zhu Qiyu realized what was going on and said to his father with a sigh.

(End of this chapter)